From French patent application FR 2.829.000, a powder compact is known, comprising a case forming a main make-up powder receptacle, having a bottom and a side wall with an open end and a dispensing head comprising a connecting element fitted to the open end of said case side wall, a porous membrane occupying the top part of said head and designed to come into contact with the skin to distribute said powder on said skin, and an auxiliary powder receiving part used to retain a part of said powder close to said membrane. The powder, called up by tapping on the case, is projected from the bottom of the case towards the membrane, passing through a projecting element inserted in a hole worked into said auxiliary powder receiving part. Such a powder compact is therefore a compact unit which can be used directly by the user without needing to resort to a detachable accessory such as a powder puff. It is the powder compact itself which, by means of said porous membrane, acts as a powder puff. A difficulty related to this type of case lies in controlling the powder flow through the membrane.
From European patent application EP 1 428 453, a powder compact is known, comprising a case forming a main make-up powder receptacle, having a bottom and a side wall with an open end and a dispensing head fitted to the open end of said case side wall, a porous membrane occupying the top part of said head and a very porous synthetic foam pad placed between the receptacle and the membrane used to store a part of said powder close to said membrane.
While the membrane can be properly supplied by means of this open-pore pad, the fact remains that the rate of feed is difficult to control, depending on the particle-size distribution of the powder.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a powder applicator similar to the above mentioned powder compacts but that can also be used for any type of product in powder form, in particular any cosmetic powder.